Tag: Iowa

Iowa 2024–And The Winner Is (Go Figure)

College of Political Knowledge

2024 Election Series

It is cold in Iowa and the faithful came out to their local place of caucusing to vote for the GOP candidates…..and as a public service IST will break the vote down and the results of that vote.

We will begin with the winner and it was anything but a shocker….

To absolutely nobody’s surprise, Donald Trump has won Monday night’s Iowa caucuses in the GOP primary. The AP called it quickly, roughly 30 minutes after the first results started coming in. About the only suspense in regard to Trump is whether he will wind up with 50% of the vote, and whether he will win by a record margin (Bob Dole has the mark at nearly 13 percentage points). The bigger issue for the overall campaign is whether Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or Nikki Haley will finish second, and whether DeSantis will do well enough to fend off calls that he drop from the race ahead of next week’s first-in-the-nation primary in New Hampshire.

The New York Times offers some quick big-picture analysis of the Iowa victory, which it notes Trump failed to secure in his 2016 campaign: “Regardless of what comes next, Mr. Trump’s Iowa victory amounts to a remarkable resurrection of a political career that had once appeared in tatters.” Politico similarly observes that he goes into New Hampshire “with few signs of vulnerability” and where he still holds a large lead in the polls despite recent progress made by Haley. The quick win suggests it could also be a short primary reason should Trump rack up delegates and deprive his rivals of a path to victory, per the Wall Street Journal

Coming in 2nd place for the silver was another mini-dictator, DeSantis.

Yes, Donald Trump won easily. But in the much closer race for second place in the Iowa caucuses, things were too close to call well into Monday night. Ultimately, though, the AP called Ron DeSantis as the second-place winner with 21.2%, edging out Nikki Haley, who got 19.1% of the vote. Both were well behind Trump at more than 51%, according to NPR and the New York Times. (Heading into Monday, Trump had hoped to get at least 50% of the vote and to win by a record margin, and he was on track to do both.)

Both DeSantis and Haley were hoping for a second-place finish to cement themselves as the obvious No. 2 in the race ahead of next week’s New Hampshire primary. But given how close their numbers were, neither “will be able to claim the clear Trump-alternative mantle” based on Iowa, per Politico. But at least for DeSantis, the results may quiet critics demanding he drop from the race. Both addressed supporters late Monday, the Guardian reports:

  • DeSantis: “They threw everything but the kitchen sink at us,” the Florida governor said, but “we’ve got our ticket punched out of Iowa.”
  • Haley: Despite her third-place finish, the former South Carolina governor said, “I can safely say, tonight Iowa safely made this Republican primary a two person race. … Our campaign is the last best hope of stopping the Trump-Biden nightmare.”

Were there any causalities from this vote?

Yep there was one…..the d/bag himself Vivek…..

Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy suspended his bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on Monday and endorsed former President Donald Trump after a disappointing finish in Iowa’s leadoff caucuses, the AP reports. Ramaswamy, a 38-year-old political novice who sought to replicate Trump’s rise as a bombastic, wealthy outsider, said, “As of this moment we are going to suspend this presidential campaign. There’s no path for me to be the next president absent things that we don’t want to see happen in this country.” During the campaign, he needled his opponents but praised Trump as “the best president of the 21st century.” He argued, though, that Republicans should opt for “fresh legs” and “take our America First agenda to the next level.”

The approach, including his call for “revolution,” vaulted Ramaswamy into the mix of candidates vying to overtake Trump—or at least become a viable alternative. His decision to drop out, though, becomes the latest confirmation that the former president, even at 77 years old and under multiple criminal indictments, still dominates Republican politics and remains the overwhelming favorite to win the GOP nomination for the third consecutive time. Ramaswamy’s failure also affirms how difficult it is for any Republican other than Trump to push the bounds of party orthodoxy, as the first-time candidate found little political reward for positions such as his opposition to aid for Israel and Ukraine.

There you have all the edge of the seat drama of the Iowa vote.

Aren’t you lad I am here so you can go about life without having to observe this circus of errors?

The GOP field has narrowed to three…..will New Hampshire be the death of the Haley campaign?

Stay tuned!

More riveting drama is coming.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Iowa Caucuses–2024

College of Political Knowledge

2024 Election Series

Today will be a day to remember….the bitter biting cold all the way South to Northern Mississippi and the vote in Iowa (that is if people can actually get out of their homes to vote).

With all this adversity what can we expect from the voters in Iowa on such a day?

Today’s the (extremely frigid) day: Iowa caucusgoers will come together at 8pm EST in some 1,500 locations across the state to debate their options and then cast their secret ballots. Aside from the much-discussed weather—the AP reports temps are expected to be the coldest ever recorded on a caucus night—here are the five biggest storylines to watch:

  1. Just how big will Donald Trump’s margin be: Polling suggests Trump has a win in the bag, meaning the real question is whether he manages to hit 50%. If he does, “the notion that Republicans are hungry for an alternative becomes far less believable,” reports NBC News. “He could head to New Hampshire with an imposing air of inevitability.” If he doesn’t, that could give momentum to whoever places second.
  2. And could that margin be record-setting big? The AP reports Bob Dole holds the record for the biggest margin of victory for an Iowa Republican caucus. He finished nearly 13 percentage points ahead of his rivals in 1988, a figure that Trump has predicted he will best Monday night.
  3. Who will take second? The No. 2 position, and whether it goes to Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis, is in many ways the one to watch. NBC News frames it as a “make-or-break” finish for DeSantis, as he’s polling behind Haley in New Hampshire and South Carolina, two states coming down the pike. And as the BBC puts it, “If one of these two opens some daylight between the other … it could elevate that candidate as the top alternative to Mr. Trump in the contests to come.”
  4. Where will the turnout count land? The record number of Republican caucus participants was set in 2012, when 118,411 of them showed up. Some campaigns had been expecting the caucusgoer count could surge to nearly 200,000 people thanks to the caucuses aligning with a federal holiday. But the weather is proving to be a major wildcard.
  5. Have the rules of the ground game changed? Candidates have long tried to woo caucusgoers by spending plenty of time in the state, “but, like much else in the Trump-era, that old rule may be out the window,” observes ABC News. While DeSantis did as has conventionally been done, visiting each of the state’s 99 counties and hosting 169 events over 61 days, Trump has made only 35 appearances in 21 days. Vivek Ramaswamy, who is polling in the single digits, has held 326 events over 89 days.

I would not be concerned with the Iowa for Iowa has not picked the candidate since 2000 when they went with GW Bush.

Iowa is for political nerds like me…..other than that it is just another day for most of us.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Iowa Clusterf*ck

Appears that the total chaos in Iowa is coming to an end….the numbers are in (sort of)……..

Clouded by doubts on a chaotic day-after, the Iowa Democratic Party began releasing partial results of the state’s first-in-the-nation presidential caucus on Tuesday, the AP reports. The data, made public for the first time nearly 24 hours after voting concluded, reflected the results of 62% of precincts in the state. While campaigns were eager to spin the results to their advantage, there was little immediate indication that the incomplete results eased the confusion and concern that loomed over the opening contest of the Democrats 2020 presidential primary season. It was unclear when Iowa’s full results would be released. CNN currently has Pete Buttigieg with 26.9% of state delegates, Bernie Sanders with 25.1%, Elizabeth Warren with 18.3%, Joe Biden with 15.6%, and Amy Klobuchar with 12.6%; everyone else is at 1.1% or lower.

During a private conference call with campaigns earlier in the day, state party chairman Troy Price declined to answer pointed questions about the specific timeline—even whether it would be a matter of days or weeks. “We have been working day and night to make sure these results are accurate,” Price said at a subsequent press conference. The leading candidates pressed on in next-up New Hampshire, which votes in just seven days, as billionaire Democrat Michael Bloomberg sensed opportunity, vowing to double his already massive advertising campaign and expand his sprawling staff focused on a series of delegate-rich states voting next month.

The big news was not the voting…..but the future for the first in the nation vote……

If you thought people were fed up with Iowa’s first-in-the-nation voting status before Monday night’s chaos, it’s nothing compared to the sentiment surfacing Tuesday morning. Examples:

  • The overview: “Iowa’s outsize role has faced attacks for decades, along with periodic failed attempts by other states to take the first-in-the-nation slot,” notes Steve Kornacki of NBC and MSNBC. “But criticism has been louder than ever this past year, and now those critics may have the ammunition they need to kill it.”
  • A prediction: From here on out, “Iowa won’t go first,” writes Tim Alberta at Politico. “It can’t go first. Not anymore.” At best, it might keep some “ceremonial capacity” in the early stages of the nominating season, but “Monday night will go down as the self-inflicted knockout punch, and with it, the end of a political era.” He adds that the state’s refusal to use a simpler voting method is one reason it has become a political “punch line.”
  • RIP, I: Responding to a tweet praising esteemed Iowa political journalist David Yepsen for predicting this mess, Yepsen himself replied, “Sorry I was right. RIP caucuses.” Later he added, “This will probably be the last caucus we’ll have to worry about.”
  • RIP, II: The headline of a piece by Eric Levitz at New York has a similar sentiment: “R.I.P. the ‘First-In-the-Nation’ Iowa Caucuses (1972-2020).” The influence of Iowa’s “wildly anti-democratic” nominating process has always been “indefensible,” but not even its biggest critics “dreamed it would subject the country to something like this,” Levitz writes. He’s skeptical Iowa will be able to recover from the damage.
  • Shaky ground: “Iowa has found itself—more this year than ever—in the position of defending its perch,” write Matt Flegenheimer and Sydney Ember in the New York Times. “Why should a state so disproportionately white take such a leading role, especially for a Democratic Party that prides itself on its diversity? Why is a hodgepodge of gatherings in school gymnasiums the pinnacle of American democracy?” Now, the state’s “precarious standing” just took another hit.
  • In defense: The state’s GOP senators, Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst, are standing up for Iowa, saying its caucus system “encourages a grassroots nominating process that empowers everyday Americans,” per a statement cited in the Washington Post. Its first-in-the-nation status “has the full backing of President Trump,” they added. “We look forward to Iowa carrying on its bipartisan legacy of service in the presidential nominating process.” But fellow Sen. Richard Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois and the Senate minority whip, said Tuesday the caucus system is no longer practical for modern voters. “I think the Democratic caucus in Iowa is a quirky, quaint tradition that should come to an end,” he said on MSNBC.

My thought is close them all down and go to a national primary….all this silliness and news coverage would be one day….possibly two….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

2020 Vote–Iowa

The first official vote of the 2020 election……

Let us begin with the GOP vote for it will be the easiest to report…..

President Trump held a rally in Des Moines last week, though the outcome of Monday’s Republican caucus in Iowa was never in doubt. In contrast to the Democratic caucus, where results were delayed by “inconsistencies,” it took just seconds for Trump to become the projected winner, the Week reports. The president, who came second to Ted Cruz in the state last time around, won with around 97% of the vote, Politico reports. Former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh, whose campaign manager complained that his supporters were being turned away from precincts, had 1.4%, and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld had 1.2%. “Big WIN for us in Iowa tonight. Thank you!” Trump tweeted.

Now for the long awaited Dem vote…..

Democrats were in disarray Monday night after the Iowa caucus results were delayed due to what officials said were “inconsistencies” in the results. Sources tell the Hill that results from the first-in-the-nation vote are not expected until Tuesday morning. Mandy McClure, communications director for the Iowa Democratic Party, said the delay was due to the fact that for the first time, the party is reporting three sets of results—the first round, the second round, and the overall delegate numbers, the Des Moines Register reports. She said inconsistencies were found in the three data sets. “This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion,” McClure said.

The counting is on-going….but nothing official as of yet……

With angry candidates, a confused public, and a gloating Trump campaign, the Democratic Party’s effort to recapture the White House is not off to the most promising start. Hours after the Iowa caucuses ended Monday night, with candidates and the public eager for news, party officials said results were delayed due to “inconsistencies” in the results from precincts. At around 1am, Troy Price, the chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, said the results would not be available until later Tuesday, the New York Times reports. Some of the candidates had already made their speeches and departed for New Hampshire. More:

  • Campaigns left in the dark. Campaigns complained they had been told “literally nothing” by party officials about the reasons for the delay, the Hill reports. A lawyer for Joe Biden’s campaign wrote to state party officials Monday night calling for the results to be withheld until they provide “explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control.” Sources tell the Times that party officials hung up on campaign reps who wanted to know when the results would be available.
  • An app to blame? The problem appears to have been a mobile app for reporting results from Iowa’s 1,700 caucus meetings, the AP reports. Caucus organizers say there were multiple glitches with the app—which was apparently largely untested—and when they tried to phone in the results to party headquarters, there was nobody answering. In some cases, reporting results took hours. The Biden campaign lawyer said both the app and the reporting hotline experienced “acute failures.”

Big change, big problems. This was the first—and probably last—time the party tried to report data from the first and second “alignments” of caucusgoers as well as delegate totals. Party rep Mandy McClure said officials had to verify data after they “found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results.” “In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report,” she said.

What can I say…..this drama is very telling about the confusion this election will breed.

I do enjoy political games…..

Winners to be announced soon…..

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Iowa–So It Begins–2020

The voting will begin for the Dem nominee in Iowa…..the first primary/caucus of the election cycle for 2020.

Since it is not a go to the polls and cast your vote…then what the Hell is a caucus?

The political world is waiting with bated breath to see who will win next week’s Iowa Democratic caucuses. But there’s another surprisingly murky question: How will we even decide who wins?

The problem is that there will be three results coming in after Iowa voters gather on the evening of Monday, February 3.

One will be for something called “state delegate equivalents” — this is the number previously used to determine the winner of the Iowa Democratic caucuses, something I’ll explain more in a bit. But the Iowa Democratic Party will also be tallying and reporting two other sets of numbers: how many actual people voted for each candidate in a given caucus — first an initial tally, then a final tally taken after lower-performing candidates are eliminated.

At the very least, this could be confusing. What if, for example, Sen. Bernie Sanders wins more votes but former Vice President Joe Biden wins more state delegate equivalents? It could make determining who “won” quite difficult.

https://www.vox.com/2020/1/30/21083701/iowa-caucuses-results-delegates-math

The only thing besides being the first in the nation is that the Iowa vote seldom picks the ultimate winner…..so why is it so damn important?

Iowa voters aren’t going to pick the country’s next president. But they will eliminate several possibilities.

The rap on the state, which begins the balloting with its Feb. 3 caucuses, is that it is too small and rural to speak for the rest of America.

However, the state’s impact is undeniable.

In the last seven contested races for the Democratic nomination, five candidates went on to become the Democratic nominee after winning Iowa. Three winners of the New Hampshire primary, which traditionally follows soon after, went on to claim the nomination.

That is because the main function of the early states is to cull the field of hopefuls, separating the also-rans from candidates with a real shot at success.

No two campaigns are alike. But the past could provide some clues to what happens next.

https://www.latimes.com/projects/will-2020-iowa-caucus-pick-the-next-president/

There is your answer….it is to cull the candidates before the rest of the country gets to hear their ideas and policies….another rigging of the system.

It is also a well of cash for the media and that is the most important thing….not who is the best candidate.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

VOTE!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Bernie In Iowa

We are only a few short days from the opening salvo of the 2020 elections….Iowa.

This post begins with something for all those that are deathly afraid of a Sanders presidency…….a Letter From Iowa….

I rode back out to Iowa to observe and even participate on behalf of Bernie Sanders’ progressive-populist candidacy in this state’s pivotal first-in-the-nation presidential Caucus. It’s a pivotal moment. A recent Des Moines Register poll has Sanders in lead among Iowa Democratic Party Caucus-goers. CNN just released a poll showing Sanders to be the national Democratic front-runner, three points ahead of ridiculous right-wing Joe “Never Called me Boy” Biden, whose corporatism Bernie has been politely calling out.

The corporate-Democratic Party leadership is in something of a panic. If Sanders wins Iowa and/or New Hampshire, then, under one possible scenario that frightens the party’s capitalist managers, he might well break through the bumbling, deeply conservative mediocrity Biden’s Black voter “firewall” in South Carolina and then roar towards the nomination through Nevada and the “Super Tuesday” (March 3rd) primary states.

A Letter From Iowa

Even Trump has a worry about Bernie…..

Hillary Clinton isn’t exactly bursting with Bernie love—and for President Trump, that could be a bonus. In a recording of a private 2018 dinner, Trump says Clinton might have been harder to beat in 2016 if she had chosen Bernie Sanders as her running mate, Newsweek reports. “Had she picked Bernie Sanders it would’ve been tougher,” says Trump. “He’s the only one I didn’t want her to pick.” Heavy delves deeper into the recording, which includes smatterings of table talk: “But I think Bernie, because all of those people that hated her so much, who voted for me, you know I got 20% of Bernie votes … because of trade. Because he’s a big trade guy … He basically says we’re getting screwed on trade and he’s right.”

“I’m worse than he is,” Trump goes on. “But we can do something about it … I don’t know, he could have, I don’t know.” Saying he didn’t want Clinton to choose Sanders, Trump considers the counter-argument: “Now then you say, people say, ‘No it would have been easier because then, her sort of establishment normal Democrats would have come to me.’ … She may have lost a lot of votes too.” (Hear it here and start at 54:00, though Trump comes in closer to 55:00). The recording—which was released by lawyers for Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas—looks like it was made secretly on a cellphone. Parnas’ attorney says it was made by Parnas associate Igor Fruman.

There is more bad news for Bernie haters……look like he is having a good few weeks in Iowa….(please I am not saying he will be the nominee only that the early news is looking good for him…regardless what the MSM wants you to believe)…..

With only nine days to go in Iowa, a New York Times/Siena College poll of likely caucusgoers has a new frontrunner—and he’s no moderate. The survey of 1,689 registered Iowa voters puts Bernie Sanders in the lead at 25%, ahead of center-left hopefuls and a high-profile liberal. The poll has Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden sparring at 18% and 17%, respectively, while Elizabeth Warren—who led in an October poll with 22%—has slumped to 15%, and Amy Klobuchar is stuck at 8%. The Sanders surge is reflected in other recent Iowa polls, which CNN crunches down to Sanders at 21% and Biden 19%, followed by Buttigieg (17%), Warren (16%), and Klobuchar (7%).

But Iowa polls can be unreliable at this stage, partly because the caucus process involves two voting rounds at each site, per Politico. What’s more, almost 40% of voters in the Times poll said they might be persuaded to switch to another candidate. And 55% say they’d prefer someone who’s “more moderate than most Democrats,” compared to 38% itching for a more liberal candidate. But if Sanders wins Iowa and New Hampshire, where he also tops the polls, he could gain powerful momentum. “Bernie’s authentic,” says an Evansdale voter. “Pretty much everything he’s saying—I can’t put it better than he can.”

Not to worry if Bernie is not your candidate….the corporate stooge candidates are not far behind….and the corporate media will be doing all they can to see the Bernie is not the nominee….so do not worry the status quo will win.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

VOTE!

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

2016 Iowa Caucus

And the winners are……..

GOP….Ted Cruz

Dems….at this hour ….who knows?

While the GOP ponders the implications of Ted Cruz’s victory in Iowa, all the Democrats can say for certain is that Martin O’Malley isn’t their winner. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are locked in a dead heat with more than 99% of precincts counted, and Iowa Democratic Party officials say they are trying to track down results from the few precincts still outstanding, the AP reports. The result was so close in some precincts that the awarding of delegates was decided by a coin toss, reports the Des Moines Register, which notes that the Clinton campaign won all five coin tosses.

When he spoke to supporters Monday night, Sanders described the “virtual tie” as a major achievement, the Register reports. “I think the people of Iowa have sent a very profound message to the political establishment, to the economic establishment and, by the way, to the media establishment,” he said. Clinton also tried to portray the result as a victory the New York Times reports. “As I stand here tonight breathing a big sigh of relief—thank you, Iowa,” she told supporters. “I am excited about really getting into the debate with Senator Sanders about the best way forward to fight for us and America.”

Who ever finally wins…….on to New Hampshire……

Oh by the way……now there are only TWO……for the Dems and the GOP loses another wannabe…….

Martin O’Malley, running a distant third in a tight Democratic race and having collected zero delegates and less than 1% of the vote in Iowa, is the first casualty as the nation casts its first votes in the 2016 presidential election, report the AP and Talking Points Memo. O’Malley’s exit was followed quickly on the Republican side by Mike Huckabee, who announced via Twitter that he was leaving the race, eight years after he won the Iowa caucuses, reports Politico. “I am officially suspending my campaign,” he tweeted. “Thank you for all your loyal support.” Huckabee was showing less than 2% of the vote Monday evening.

O’Malley’s candidacy likewise never took hold; it emerged earlier Thursday that the former Maryland governor took out a $500,000 loan in December to keep his campaign afloat, reports the Washington Post. And while speculation often centered around O’Malley’s chances as a vice presidential candidate or Cabinet member, FiveThirtyEight notes that with his mediocre polling in even his home state of Maryland, his chances of being tapped for a loftier position are unlikely.

Is it over yet?

Maybe at 0240 hes NBC claiming Clinton winner…..

The Iowa Caucus (Yawn!)

The dumbest idea for picking a candidate (my opinion)……the big news, at least for the media, will be who emerges from Iowa the front runner…..a very smart dude, Nate Silver, has some thoughts for the GOP……

If you are a supporter of the GOP in this election then maybe you should watch the caucus….it is possible that it could be a telling tale…..

The Iowa caucuses are here and Nate Silver, who wasn’t expecting Donald Trump to still be leading the GOP field at this stage, still thinks he could be knocked off his perch. At FiveThirtyEight.com, the predictions whiz outlines four possible results in Iowa—and four ways the media is likely to spin them.

  1. Marco Rubio as the GOP’s Savior. If Trump beats Ted Cruz and Rubio does well, expect the GOP elites to rally behind Rubio, Silver predicts, adding that in what was “possibly an idiotic strategy,” the GOP establishment may have had this outcome in mind when it launched recent attacks on Cruz.
  1. A Trump Blowout. If Trump beats Cruz and Rubio flops, Monday “will be one of the most famous days in American political history,” according to Silver, who predicts that a blowout Trump win would make him the odds-on favorite for the nomination—and leave the GOP without a clear alternative.
  2. Cruz in Control. If Cruz beats Trump and Rubio has a bad night, “Cruz will look Teflon” and it will be a nightmare for the GOP elites who opposed him, Silver writes. He predicts that a post-Iowa Cruz bounce could open up chances for Jeb Bush or John Kasich in New Hampshire.
  3. A Trump Bust. If Cruz beats Trump and Rubio has a strong night, the story will be all about a Trump bust, whether or not his New Hampshire chances still look good, Silver predicts. He notes that a Trump collapse would leave the GOP primary looking relatively normal, which “might be the biggest surprise of all.”

Click for Silver’s full column.

Or to save yourself some aggravation…..maybe take a look at the Dems……just a thought……

But if you are a glutton for punishment then check out this……..

The eyes of the world are once again on Iowa for caucus day—and this time, they’re waiting to see whether all the Donald Trump hype translates into actual votes, and what will happen in the tightening Democratic race. Some coverage highlights:

  • The Des Moines Register has a refresher on how the state’s caucus system actually works—and on the big difference between the Democratic and Republican procedures.
  • For Trump and Bernie Sanders alike, the most important factors will be turnout, turnout, and turnout, the Wall Street Journal reports.
  • AccuWeather is keeping an eye on a winter storm that could affect voting Monday evening, potentially changing the results.
  • Several other Election 2016 questions to be answered Monday include how either Trump or Ted Cruz handles losing, reports the Christian Science Monitor.
  • CNN reports on how potential kingmaker Martin O’Malley “is the most important Democrat in Iowa.”
  • O’Malley will probably stay in the race at least until New Hampshire, but Iowa could be the end of the road for several GOP candidates who are “running on fumes,” the Hill reports.
  • The Des Moines Register has some tips on how to follow results live as they come in Monday night—and a look at how the candidates stand on 27 different issues.

And in the end….if you are not part of the lamestream media………who f*cking cares?

GOP’s Endangered Species

About a week ago I saw a report that Rick Perry was not paying his staffers, apparently he is out of money.  Remember last year when he was one of the “anointed” ones…..a front runner if you will…….and now he is barely hanging on by his toe nails.

This news got me to thinking…..4 years ago the presumptive front runner of the 2012 election season for the GOP was Tim Pawlenty and he dropped out before the Iowa Caucasus….

Now on to this election…..Perry looks like he will have to bow out either before or just after Iowa….that is unless he can find a treasure chest with campaign cash inside…..will there be others?

There are 18 GOP candidates and Iowa looms but can all the candidates make it through to South Carolina?

Of course they cannot……..by South Carolina there  will be 10 or so candidates left in the field…..it may surprise you to learn that some of the most popular candidates from 2012 will be the first to crap out.

My how times have changed……huh?

Seven GOP candidates who could drop from ’16 race before Iowa | TheHill.

Iowa: And The Winner Is!

Iowa is the most irrelevant and a total waste of time….Iowa is NOT a snapshot of what the nation will be doing …..all it is is the media’s attempt to be relevant and it is a cash cow for local stations…..other than that it is a waste of time and sanity……

But damn!  Romney/Santorum race was a close one and proved to be more interesting than I had anticipated.

FYI, one of the last polls before the caucus rated the candidates like this:  Romney-22%, Paul-17%, Santorum-16%, Gingrich-15% and the rest are just names on a list……how good were these endless polls?

But since we Americans cannot exist without a winner and a loser….I will give you the red meat you so desire…..

Romney–25% –30,015

Santorum–25%–30,007

Paul–21%

Gingrich–13%

Sad that Romney never seems to get above 25%….and now Gingrich has taken the negative ads against him personally and has promised to take Romney down with him…..also look for Perry and Bachmann to exit the race in short time…..

Oh Yay!  Now on to New Hampshire and another waste of time and sanity!  But the two debates next week should be entertaining and ugly if Gingrich holds true to his threat to Romney……